Breckenridge Texan

Anyone who wants to vote by mail in the upcoming Primary Election must apply for a Ballot By Mail by Feb. 23. Additionally, those who plan to vote in the March 5 election must be registered to vote by Feb. 5. Applications may be picked up in the Stephens County Tax Office at the courthouse, 200 W. Walker St.

Stephens County Tax Assessor/Elections Administrator Christie Latham recently sent out a notice stating, “This is a reminder that for those of you who prefer to vote by mail for the elections coming up in 2024, you must fill out and turn in your application no later than Friday, February 23, 2024, by 4:00 p.m. (Please Note: Applications must be made each year, for that year’s elections. Last year’s applications have all expired.)”

That deadline is the latest date and time that the application for a Ballot By Mail can be received in the Stephens County Tax Office; a postmark for that date will not be honored for the application, Latham said.

“You may qualify to vote by mail if you are 65 years of age or older, if you will be out of the county for the two week early voting period and election day, or if you are disabled,” she said in the statement. “In order to use the out-of-county reason, you must be able to provide an out-of-county address and the ballot must be mailed to that address.”

The Feb. 23 deadline is for the application for a Ballot By Mail. Once the application is approved, a ballot will be mailed to the voter.

For more information on the Ballot By Mail application process, call the tax office at 254-559-2732 or visit the Texas Secretary of State’s Vote Texas website (click here).

“Also, please note, that just because you are 65 or older you do not have to apply to vote by mail. If you would rather vote in person, there will be two full weeks of early voting,” Latham said. “The first week is Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the weekend in between will be early voting from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Saturday and from 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Then, the last full week is 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. So there will be plenty of time to vote in person, if you so desire.”

Early Voting will take place at the Stephens County Courthouse. Election Day will be March 5, and voting will take place at each precinct’s polling location.

The local offices that will be on the ballot are:

• 90th Judicial District Judge — Phillip Gregory is running unopposed for the position. He was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Judge Stephen E. Bristow, who retired in September.
• 90th Judicial District Attorney for Stephens and Young counties — Incumbent Dee Peavy is running unopposed for the position.
• Sheriff — Incumbent Kevin Roach is running unopposed for the position.
• County Attorney — Incumbent Gary Trammel is running unopposed for the position.
• Tax Assessor-Collector — The current Chief Deputy Clerk in the Tax Assessor-Collector’s office, Crystal Shook, is running unopposed for the position.
• County Commissioner, Precinct 1 — Incumbent David Fambro is running unopposed for the position.
• County Commissioner, Precinct 3 — Incumbent Will Warren and candidate Houston Satterwhite are running for the office.
• Constable — Incumbent Wayne McMullen is running for the office.
• Unexpired Term (2 years) for County Treasurer — Recently appointed Treasurer Kelsey Cornwall is running unopposed for the office.

In the two area state races for State Representative and State Senator, both incumbents will face challengers in this year’s elections.

For State Representative District 60, which includes Stephens, Palo Pinto and Parker counties and is currently held by Glenn Rogers, there will be a rematch between Rogers of Graford, who lists his occupation as veterinarian/rancher, and Mike Olcott of Aledo, whose occupation is listed as retired. Rogers and Olcott faced off in the 2022 Republican Primary Election and subsequent run-off, and Rogers won the run-off election with 10,043 votes to Olcott’s 9,725 votes, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website. There are no Democrats who filed to run in the State Representative District 60 race.

In the State Senator-District 10 race, which includes Stephens County, incumbent Phil King, an attorney from Weatherford, is running unopposed in the Republican primary. However, Andy Morris, an attorney, is running unopposed in the Democratic Primary, setting up a challenge for King in the General Election in November.

On the Federal side, in the Congressional House Race for U.S. Representative 25, currently held by Roger Williams, whose district includes Stephens County, as well as all or parts of 12 other counties, there are three candidates who have filed for the Republican Primary. The candidates include Vince Crabb, whose occupation is listed as a retired Army colonel; Matthew Lucci of Arlington, whose occupation is an entrepreneur; and the incumbent Roger Williams, who lists his occupation as a car dealer. There are no Democratic candidates running for the office.

(Image by the U.S. Postal Service)